Like nature itself the Allan Brooks Nature Centre’s busiest time of year is springtime and their nature interpretation programs are now underway. Thanks to the Foord Family Foundation’s generous donation of funding for busses the Centre is in a position to offer affordable nature based educational programming to North Okanagan schools.

Over the months of May and June ABNC will see over 1200 students participate in programs at the Nature Centre. Renewed partnership with Bishop Wild Bird Sanctuary gives schools the option to book combination tours between the two sites, with the full cost of their busing paid for.

The tours started this month and Michael Sutch, Vice Principal of Cherryville Elementary who took advantage of this funding for his school. “The busing subsidy made the opportunity to visit the Allan Brooks Nature Center and Bishop Bird Sanctuary much more affordable for our school, and we appreciated it very much.”

Sutch went on to highlight the benefits of outdoor education stating that it allows students to connect to their learning in a hands-on, stress-reduced, real life environment. “During today’s busy world, children often have limited time to connect with nature whereas our students are typically closely connected to their natural surroundings. Time to connect with nature is more important than ever in a time when we are becoming increasingly overrun with technology.”

Eleanor Bassett, programs coordinator at ABNC explains that the spring education programs at the Centre offer hands-on experiential based learning.

“We have a wide variety of programs that are designed to match Prescribed Learning Outcomes. Schools can select the focus of their trip to make the most out of their visit, such as making maps, sampling aquatic insects from the Pond Learning Centre or playing outdoor nature-themed games.”

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